| Author | Message | ||
     86bgn |
I think the red, white, and blue bike is bad ass.... More like that, or x1 style with polished wheels and subframe. The RX, and SX are obviously killer bikes, now make them look like a Buell should instead of all go, and no show. I think the price is right on at $13,999.00 for the RX if they can continue to make them at that. And let's see some of that old style Buell advertising, something eluding too the fact that NOT having all that electronic BS will put hair on your chest, and make panties fall off. I think maybe EBR went to far competing with the Japs, instead of sticking with their bread and butter, and building on that. It's now a track proven platform, so now we should all look cool, hit the street and gang up on the Ducati clubs. I want to see it say East Troy again. | ||
| Airbozo |
Couple of things; When I get old I hope I can still swing a leg over a motorcycle. It will most likely be American Made. I love the special colors on the new bikes too. Court is right, They have nothing if they don't get the word out, grow the excitement and spread the love. Test ride bus tour? I start a new job Monday and unfortunately a "Customer Suitable" ride is first up, but I have made it perfectly clear to the Finance Minister that 2 more motorcycles are in my future. One before summer is over. | ||
| Stevel |
Dean, Your synopsis of warranty issues and CS is spot on. In fact, I will say that this problem is industry wide. No company does this well when compared to auto manufacturers....especially HD! However, with these EBR bikes and the new fledgling under financed company rebirth, it will be much worse than usual. Add to that, the very high cost of parts, any new owner must understand that they are pretty much on their own when it comes to repair and problem resolution. I fear it is unrealistic to expect more. | ||
| Court |
>>>I love the bike, but the CS was definitely lacking. It wasn't at Buell. I've got notebooks of letters here testifying to the extraordinary service folks received. My mandate from Erik, during the years I was doing Buell Customer Service, was to do whatever it takes to resolve a concern. To that end I pretty much had free reign and, as old timers will recall, some of the stories that came out of that . . . . even to the extent of pulling up in front of Henrik's house, unannounced, with a new bike so he could make his vacation trip, have become Buell lore. I also had the ability, based on my experience with Buells and people, to call them like I saw them. Brankin likely remembers the story of the Buell engineers sitting out in the old Buell office trailer when I told an owner who's Buell had "waddled" down the driveway, when he started it to warm up and went inside, an fallen over that he was a "complete fxxxing idiot". It was hilarious. . . I had him repeat the description of the event on the speaker phone . . . listened carefully . . . then he asked "what are you going to do about it?". I told him . . . . "I'm going to solve your problem, I'm going to fix your bike but we at Buell have a holistic approach and the first thing we need to do is fix YOU. You are a complete idiot for leaving a V-Twin with a common crank throw idling on a sloped driveway." "If I don't fix you this is going to happen over and over again". Dead silence. Then . . . a sheepish. "Yeah, I guess you're right". "Now we're making progress!" I hooked him up with Earl at Dudley-Perkins, the bike was fixed and we threw in some goodies. The story became the basis for a number of things . . . from roadside S3 saddlebag repairs . . to Jennifer (Jennifer and Joni Kells were my 2 wonderful staff folks) having someone drive all night to have an S1 White Lightning at a big event when the freight company misplaced a bike. Customer Service can be a profit center once the word gets out that if you have a problem you are not alone. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I was thinking the same thing Hugh was. At $9500 used (low miles) and $12000 or whatever new, I can kind of make my own adventure bike out of the SX. With family needs of time and money right now, this isn't the time for me. But if I was where I was when I bought my new XB9SX, I'd probably already have an SX. I'd prefer a detuned engine, but it would probably be fine as is, as I would very rarely ever tap into more than 100 HP. I haven't ridden one, but it seems like the engine is well designed to be high strung when you want it, but a good street engine when you don't. | ||
| Court |
I've had to change my thinking on the 185hp and what it would/could do for me . . . . following a 3am conversation a week ago last Friday. I'd made the flip comment that my Uly, with it's something <100HP provided more than enough power for me. To which, my 1190 owning adventure-mate made the comment that he'd thought the same thing until he started riding one. He found everything easier, better engineered, incredible developed and made the comment that the added power and handling had indeed made him, a seasoned rider from Wisconsin, even better. The bike makes a difference. My eyes were opened. My curiosity piqued. My pal dropped off at JFK in the pr-dawn hours after an all night adventure that never gained the intended traction . . but the Buell history and future discussion was amazing. These 1190's . . particularly at the recently announced prices. . . . warrant a close look. | ||
| Bob_thompson |
I've got notebooks of letters here testifying to the extraordinary service folks received. My mandate from Erik, during the years I was doing Buell Customer Service, was to do whatever it takes to resolve a concern. A big +1 on that Court. It surely continued through the 1125 years. When I bought my Race ECM for my 1125R I was talking to Michael Richter who did tuning for it in late 2008. I sent him specifics for what exhaust I made and minor mods I had. I believe, at that time he was doing "custom" tuning for specific bikes. When I got it I was highly pleased with the new performance (it made it a whole new bike), except the fairly high idle. At that time you could send it back for a small change for I believe $25. I sent it back to Buell and within a week had it back with the lower idle with no charge, even shipping. NOW that's outstanding customer service. Four HD shops here on the other hand had not a clue of Buells. Of course that was HD's failure. Here's hoping that mind set also resurrects itself with the new EBR and it would be awful nice if Michael Richter and some of the original Elves have at least some part in the new company if it in fact survives healthy. I believe Erik would welcome that. | ||
| Canario |
Beauty:   | ||
| Canario |
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| Canario |
The Beast:    | ||
| Ratbuell |
Court - definitely saddle up, I'm sure you'll be impressed. I'm of the same mind about the Uly - great as-is, not lacking, "why want more". Then I rode the 1125R at the product knowledge class in 07. At Pocono Raceway. Wow...but geared for a racetrack. When we debuted the CR on the demo circuit I felt I might be in trouble - the gearing made all the difference. But I didn't "need" a 5th Buell...until the fire sale made me unable to refuse. Different animal? Yup. Power is HUGE...but transparent. It's a twin. Linear. Accessible. Not peaky. Not "here's 7000 rpm so WHACK". Same manners as the Uly, just...it goes to eleven  I have yet to allow myself to ride an 1190. I know full well what'll happen, and my bank account won't allow it at the moment. But I can only assume it has all the good things that are Buell...coupled with power for days. And reports from folks who have em...pretty much back that up. | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ Joe- I also bought a CR at the firesale, but I never quite "jelled" with it, and wound up selling it a year later. I test rode an 1190SX summer-before-last at a Buell gathering and I was really surprised at how much better I liked it than the CR. Obviously it's got a lot more on the top end, but it seemed more tractable at low speed as well, even with stock tuning and gearing. | ||
| Crusty |
I had the same experience as Hughlysses. I didn't own an 1125 CR, but It didn't click with me when I took it out for a Demo ride. The 1190 SX, however doesn't just talk to me, it sings to my soul. I strongly suspect that I'll own one eventually. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I love my CR. Bone stock except Uly pegs and a Pegasus seat. And comments like the 2 above echo exactly WHY I won't let myself ride an 1190...I know I'll love it too. | ||
| Hughlysses |
On a not-so-promising note, I e-mailed "info@ebr.com" (per the info in the latest press release), provided contact info, and asked for contact info for my nearest dealer on Saturday. As of 5:41 PM EDT today, I haven't heard a peep.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Interesting- over on the EBR forum, former EBR dealer AF1 Racing reports that Parts Unlimited now shows "out of stock" for all EBR parts. Perhaps the parts are now all in the hands of LAP? Edit- UPDATE- AF1 now reports many items now show in stock at Parts Unlimited. Must have been a glitch or they were doing inventory or something. (Message edited by Hughlysses on March 22, 2016) (Message edited by Hughlysses on March 22, 2016) | ||
| Ratbuell |
I will say this...BMW has some good ads on TV right now....very reminiscent of the old "go ride the motorcycle" generation of Buell ads. Perhaps the time has come for a resurrection of those old-style Buell ads? (Yes, this was mentioned above, but the BMW ad just came on and I thought it would make a nice tie-in) | ||
| Oopezoo |
There are people who are still willing to watch commercials!? TV commercials are a losing proposition if they have any desire to attract riders under 40. Pretty much everything in my house is either streamed or recorded for later viewing. I honestly don't think my kids have ever seen a commercial in our house. I know, because they pitch a fit every time they are at Grandma's house and one comes on. They think someone changed the channel on them. Unless of course you are talking about airing them during live sporting events, that still has its place. I hope they do something creative to get the word out that they are back in business. 15 years ago I would have seriously considered a 1190SX. I'd still love to have one, but could never bring myself to pay that much for a standard/sports bike. Too many good (and cheap) bikes out there these days. | ||
| D_adams |
Court, I'd recommend riding an SX over the RX simply for the more upright riding position. There are bits and pieces "in the works" so to speak that would make the SX a nice sport/touring setup. They had the yellow one up on the trailer platform with a small flyscreen and bags on it. It may not be an AX, but it's certainly a capable machine. | ||
| Buelliedan |
"On a not-so-promising note, I e-mailed "info@ebr.com" (per the info in the latest press release), provided contact info, and asked for contact info for my nearest dealer on Saturday." Not good!! | ||
| D_adams |
I did get a reply back about dealer info. The list is not finalized as of yet but will be posted to the website when it is. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Not good!! I saw a comment on Facebook this morning from a guy in California with the same issue. If they don't have this information handy, they shouldn't have told people to e-mail and ask for it yet. | ||
| D_adams |
You guys do realize it's just ONE person answering that email address, right? I can only imagine the flood Dan's getting right now after the launch. | ||
| Buelliedan |
if they just put an updated dealer list on the website it would not be an issue. | ||
| Hughlysses |
You guys do realize it's just ONE person answering that email address, right? I didn't know that, but OK. Do you really think they've gotten THAT many inquiries? I hope they have, but I kind of doubt it. They could at least automatically respond with the latest version of the dealer list or a message saying they'll respond ASAP so you know your message hasn't vanished out into cyber-space. | ||
| Hughlysses |
OK, got a response this afternoon:
It's a reasonably prompt answer, although not a very satisfying one. The nearest "old" dealer I'm aware of is Fayetteville Powersports (formerly Ray Price) of Fayetteville, NC, which is about 150 miles away. I have no idea if they plan to be a dealer for the new company or not. The only SC dealer went out of business shortly after EBR closed. | ||
| Hughlysses |
On a MUCH more positive note, Peter Egan posted a story this afternoon: http://www.cycleworld.com/2016/03/22/erik-buell-ra cing-is-reborn-again-with-new-investors-motorcycle -news/ According to him, 30 dealers have already signed up. | ||
| Court |
Great story ! | ||
| Buelliedan |
Hugh, I would just call Fayetteville powersports and ask them if they are a new EBR dealer. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yea, I should. That's where 1313 bought his I believe. |
